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midnightanxietytm · 1 month

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He takes his whiskey neat

A/N: Look, I think i was possessed while writing this one /j. It was like 1 am and I was procrastination on college work, I dunno what happened but this is the ungodly spawn of my imagination mixed with sleep deprivation, caffeine and stress. Enjoy and don't question it too much

Contents: Ford Pines x reader, pinning (lots of pining), I pictured reader in their late 40s to early 50s so there is an age gap but nothing extreme. There's some plot in those holes. uhhh lots of tension and no payoff because im pretty sure I passed out before I got to that part.

Word count: 996

There’s this look on his eyes now that you can’t quite figure out.

Ever since Stanford Pines came back from the portal, ever since weirdmageddon and the end of that fateful summer, something about him fundamentally changed. There’s contempt, relief, sure, but there's more to it, something that he keeps deep in that rattling metal-protected brain of his.

And god forbid sometimes you just want to pick him apart entirely, figure out every detail, note it down, absorb it, maybe then his mere presence won’t entice you, mess you, so goddamn much.

It culminates, as all events are bound to do, right before that year’s summer vacation, you blame the heat.

Soos and Melody took a vacation for themselves, entrusting the shack back to Stan’s less than trustworthy hands, just like old times. Ford slips back into the basement so easily you almost follow him; your mind briefly longing for that nostalgia of being freshly out of college, when you and Ford were easily impressed by the oddness of the world.

You were a prodigy; a good ten years younger than him yet still doing your masters while he did his doctorate, and in the same area with similar themes! Back then, you two were just bright-eyed yet very tired academics… Then Gravity Falls presented itself on a silver platter, and Bill followed through.

You were there, on the day of the portal, or at least, almost there, going back for the thousandth time, expecting no answer to your knocks at the door as usual, only to be met with the fallout of something far worse than refusal.

And then he was back, less jittery, less paranoid and less sleep deprived than he was before at least. But there was that thing in his eyes, that inherent distrust, detachment…? You struggled to find the words and if there’s one thing that you as a scientist can’t deal with is a question that goes unresearched.

So it began; your “research” depended on experiment and to experiment, you firstly decided to get close to your unwilling subject. And you go down the rabbit hole.

You find him in the basement, of course. He’s drawing on loose sheets of paper, some of the discarded pieces lay on the floor, and the cd player by his side is playing just loud enough to muffle your footsteps as you approach him by his right side. “Updating the journal?” You ask, nonchalantly, as if you hadn't obsessively turned each page of his journals before, as if your own handwriting wasn’t squeezed in the first ones before his old muse took all the space left.

Ford just hums, raising his chin slightly, but not his eyes, just to acknowledge the question. “Not really, just trying to get some proportion practice. Looking back, some of my work on the first journal was… Not the best.”

A chuckle leaves your mouth; “If you say so…” You hum, picking up one of the filled out pages that were pushed aside in the table and pretending to look it over as he places his pen down and looks up at you.

“Any advice?” He asks, and once again you pretend to be paying attention to anything but him and his every movement.

“Not really… I think you’re good.” You place the paper back at the table, leaning against it. “Thought you’d be going through your abstract phase by now, honestly.” And you smirk down at him.

He leans back, crossing his arms; “I fear I’m too logical to have an abstract phase, even my craziest dreams have math and science behind them.” And you both laugh, and your curiosity itches more and more every millisecond.

The next words that leave your mouth were planned and inwardly rehearsed, but they come out natural as a summer breeze. “Every tortured artist has an abstract phase, get on with the times, sixer!” It comes out as a joke, it's a test. And suddenly you’re too nervous to stay there, staring at him and waiting for a rebuttal. You push yourself off the table and zipline to one of the bookshelves, reaching towards the back of it, you pull the ‘eureka whiskey’ and the two cups.

He just watches you for a second, then accepts the cup as you pour him one, then one for yourself.

And it’s truly the eureka whiskey, because goddamn you just found something in those eyes.

He takes a sip; “Yeah I guess those portal days would do for some good surrealist pieces at least.”

“I can’t even imagine.” You say.

He smirks, lips inches from his cup. “You can’t…” He takes a sip. “That’s the point of surrealist.” You want his brain under a microscope, you want his breath mixing with yours, you want to never see him again, you want to wake up near him every day.

The curse of science is that in the endeavor to figure out the world, the scientist often loses sight of themselves.

The witty remarks, the planned lines, the psychological strategies, all fly out of you head and you lean back against his desk. He’s leaned further back now and his chair is turned diagonally towards you and he watches with a smile and those eyes. “What did you see?” It’s almost a whisper, because you think he might actually tell you, and that scares you more than anything.

“Too much…” He swallows, sighs, takes a swing of whiskey and rests the empty cup on the desk. “It was very chaotic, honestly that’s all I want to say…” You sigh, pushing yourself up to sit at his desk, and his head tilts as he watches you.

“I’m glad you’re back.” You settle, even though it doesn’t even come near to all the things you want to express. He smiles, and his eyes travel down, landing on your hands, holding your barely touched whiskey glass. You follow his gaze, and chuckle. “I’m more of a whine person.”

“I know…”

#midnight writes #taking requests #ford pines #ford x reader #ford pines x reader #grunkle ford #swooning over stans #fanfic writing #gravity falls #mutual pining #title inspired hozier's song #you know which one #too sweet #the author regrets nothing #hozier reference #asks open

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gleaming-glasses · 10 months

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Still thinking about the masters event

Quote from Gravity Falls, Weirdmageddon Part 1

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novantinuum · 3 months

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for anyone who follows @everystan, the blog where I post almost every single unique frame of Stan in Gravity Falls, here's the updates on where I'm at with that:

Not What He Seems: 339 screenshots edited and ready to queue

A Tale of Two Stans: 659 screenshots edited and ready to queue

DD&MD: 317 screenshots in need of editing

The Stanchurian Candidate: Need to screenshot

The Last Mabelcorn: 13 screenshots edited and ready to queue

Roadside Attraction: 350 screenshots in need of editing

Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future: 57 screenshots edited and ready to queue

Weirdmageddon Part 1: 14 screenshots edited and ready to queue

Weirdmageddon Part 2: 5 screenshots edited and ready to queue

Weirdmageddon Part 3: Need to screenshot

As you can see... I have some pictures ready to start posting, but am buried under the sheer number of images I'll need to queue. I can't batch queue, so I'll have to upload every picture individually. That... takes a long time. I'm currently super busy preparing for a convention, so it may be a month or so before I can resume posting. Thank you for your years of patience! Hoping to finish this project up soon.

#jen rambles #gravity falls #stanley pines #everystan

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bestepisode · 2 months

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Vote on the first half of the season here!

Episode descriptions below the cut.

Not What He Seems: After government agents take Stan into custody, Dipper and Mabel question how much they really know about their Grunkle Stan.

A Tale of Two Stans: Cornered underneath the Mystery Shack, Stan must finally reveal the secrets of his past and his mysterious portal to Dipper and Mabel.

Dungeons, Dungeons & More Dungeons: Dipper finds an unlikely friend to join him with his newest obsession, a board game called Dungeons, Dungeons and More Dungeons.

The Stanchurian Candidate: When Grunkle Stan decides to run for mayor, Dipper and Mabel have their work cut out for them trying to turn their gaffe-prone uncle into the perfect candidate.

The Last Mabelcorn: A new threat requires that Mabel venture into the enchanted realm of the unicorns. Meanwhile, Dipper learns an unexpected twist about the enigmatic Bill Cipher.

Roadside Attraction: Grunkle Stan takes a road trip in an attempt to sabotage all of the other tourist traps in Oregon. Meanwhile, Dipper tries to flirt with some girls on the open road.

Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future: Mabel makes plans for her and Dipper's 13th birthday party, while Dipper searches below the town to find its most surprising secret.

Weirdmageddon 1: Xpcveaoqfoxso: Dipper finds himself surrounded by menacing villains, both old and new, while trapped in the apocalypse, and must participate in a race against time.

Weirdmageddon 2: Escape From Reality: As Dipper, Soos and Wendy mount a rescue attempt to bring Mabel back from a strange new world, Bill's forces discuss their strategy going forward.

Weirdmageddon 3: Take Back The Falls: After Ford learns of Bill's true motives, a final confrontation with Bill ensues. The Pine family make a great sacrifice on the way to arriving at their ultimate fate.

#gravity falls #gravity falls best episode #mabel pines #dipper pines #soos ramirez #bill cipher #lil gideon #stan pines #wendy corduroy #robbie valentino #ford pines #pacifica northwest

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the-orion-scribe · 1 year

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In Defence of Escape from Reality

Reddit version

Not long ago, there was a discussion thread on the r/GravityFalls subreddit on which is the “worst episode” of Gravity Falls. Now, to put my two cents on this question, personally, I have no strong hatred for any of the episodes, including Roadside Attraction – the fandom’s most riled episode like how Fly is very lowly-regarded in Breaking Bad. For me, Roadside Attraction lowers the stakes and brings us outside of Gravity Falls for a while before what is to come. My favourite part of that episode is Dipper trying to be more confident of himself, even if I agree perhaps the flirting subplot is rather unnecessary. Still, it's a nice break from all the rather momentous episodes, and improves the relationship between Stan and Dipper.

I would actually argue that the preceding episode The Last Mabelcorn is actually the episode that’s out of place, given it was intended to be a space for a low-stakes Wendy-centric story the writers never managed to crack. But that would be another discussion for another time.

I’m deeply amused, nevertheless, when Escape from Reality is mentioned as the worst. Now, before my rewatch, I only had a ‘meh’ impression of that episode. But after rewatching the episode to verify those claims, I now have a newfound appreciation for the episode. In fact, I will personally rate it above its preceding episode – Weirdmageddon 1: Xpcveaoqfoxso.

There are some ‘problems’ the critic of the episode has highlighted, notably how the episode “cuts entirely the rythm [sic] and the tension and rythm [sic] of the entire finale” and shows “the lack of character of development of Mabel Pines” who is “NEVER held accountable for anything she did during Weirdmaggedon”. To check through these claims, I decided to rewatch the Weirdmageddon arc – from Dipper and Mabel vs the Future to the finale, before forming my own conclusion. And I say, the rewatches gave me deeper insights which I think plenty of us overlooked.

Let’s start with Dipper and Mabel vs the Future. I must watch from here, otherwise, the rest of it wouldn’t make much sense given Gravity Falls is a continuity-based cartoon.

It's a fantastic penultimate episode from start to end (I call it penultimate before WMG). Goofy at the start like many of the Gravity Falls episodes, and we explore both the siblings’ arcs. One with Dipper and Ford to find the adhesive to seal the rift in the UFO, and Mabel trying to prepare for their 13th birthday party at the end of the summer.

Mabel's subplot really hits the feels. I still recall how it hits me when a holiday is ending. And while the episode starts off with optimism, Mabel soon realises the harsh realities of growing up. And she also realises her summer friends (Grenda and Candy) won't be with her to celebrate their birthday and see them off. This gradually crushes and peels off the positive ideal Mabel holds, and thus she realises that the future after the summer is not what she wishes to face.

Stan comes in, and offers encouragement that Dipper would be by her side. And that scene, likely overlooked by many, hits hard too, especially when he said “not everyone can say that”, referring to his falling out with his twin Ford (and even Stan realising he would be out of the Shack soon, even if he hasn’t said that aloud). And then when she heard Dipper's willingness to take Ford's apprenticeship, that one hope she held was gone and broke the straw on the camel’s back.

So why am I reviewing all of these? We need this context to understand what happens after. There are claims, especially from Mabel’s critics, that Mabel knew about the nature of the rift and just willingly handed it over. However, from the episode, Mabel only has a vague idea that whatever Dipper and Ford plan to do is to “save the world or whatever”. And Ford keeps the rift when Mabel comes in to check on her brother. So she's unlikely to link that to whatever Ford and Dipper were planning to do to save the world. In fact, neither told her about the rift, even in the previous episodes. Ford even stated in Journal 3 that it’s something he must keep a secret.

At the end of the episode, Mabel is in her most vulnerable emotional state – the world is falling apart around her, especially the prospect she has to face the hard future alone. And she fears that history will repeat itself, her deep-seated fear, established since A Tale of Two Stans, that she and Dipper would grow apart quickly and become hostile like the Stans. The twins have been each other’s source of strength, and they still have more time to mature and grow together. It is unimaginable for her, just at the age of 12, to be separated from her twin for a long time.

And the Bill-possessed Blendin arrives. I also note critics saying she should have known better and not trusted him given “he tried to kill her and her brother not long ago”. Let me reiterate that, since the end of Blendin’s Game, the twins and Blendin are on better terms, given the twins decide to exercise mercy on him and let him go. Anyway, even then, she does not know that it’s Bill Cipher she’s talking to, and in that extremely vulnerable emotional state, she’s in no position to think anywhere close to rationally. Blendin offers her a tantalising offer that seems to address her problems.

We need to relook this scene from Mabel’s perspective. Bill only shows her in a holograph the object Mabel has to pass over to him and dismisses its significance as “a little gizmo (that) he (Ford) won't even know it's missing." So in short, no, she doesn't know what she’s handing over and what she’s in for. Bill is exploiting her emotional weaknesses to get the rift. Swayed by Bill’s persuasion, Mabel thinks the rift is some ‘small gadget’ that will somehow grant her ‘a little more summer’, not a permanent loop without end. And she also thought he was Blendin, someone whom she thinks she could trust, and with the goggles, it’s hard to tell Blendin was being possessed.

The last we know about Mabel is that she got knocked out when it all started. So that brings me on to Escape from Reality.

But let me also do a quick review of WMG1. It’s not bad, though rather slow. It sets the stakes well, but takes some substantial time just for Dipper to figure out what he must do. But it’s indeed distressing for him, who just lost his mentor and the three journals and he is unable to figure out what he should do. A major plus for this episode, nevertheless, is Wendy being more involved and being his guide (wendip fans rejoice) and we also get to see Gideon’s transformation for the better to turn against Bill.

Escape from Reality is wonderful. In fact, this episode is an important turning point – a friend even commented this is “the emotional and thematic climax of the series”. I agree it might be a little jarring in tone, since we were “shoved” into a “sugarcoat land”. But I welcome variety, and actually if you realise, Mabeland is a juxtaposition of the dark and surrealistic nature of Bill's world with Mabel’s worldview. It’s not as clear compared to the previous episode, but you still get peeks of Bill’s touches of what seemed to be an ideal fantasy world. Mabeland’s lack of rules sounds exactly like Bill's "join me" sales pitch to Ford in the subsequent episode. As he claimed: "I'LL REMAKE A FUN WORLD, A BETTER WORLD! NO MORE RESTRICTIONS, NO MORE LAWS!"

I agree with Bill that he has created “the most diabolical trap” he's ever created. It’s a gilded cage, designed to fulfil Mabel’s wants and desires. As it is a prison, the ultimate purpose of everything in Mabeland is to prevent Mabel from leaving by keeping her trapped inside what is essentially a waking dream. Really, Mabeland was just a massive, literalized Sweater Town. Bill believes the bubble to be inescapable because he knows that he would not be able to escape it, and because these “mortal meatsacks” are so inferior, there's no way they could be capable of something he isn't.

Let me also address some pieces of criticism, that Mabel “admits she knows she is in a fake world, she sees what's going on in Gravity Falls multiple times but doesn't even react or show concern”, and instead, she throws all of Dipper's unconditional love and support for her back in his face by not just creating Dippy Fresh, but also sending him to a trial where he will get kicked out into the apocalypse if he doesn't convince her to come out by giving up the apprenticeship. She shows absolutely no remorse over anything she did and very less admits it, and acts as if she had nothing to do with it.”

First off, there's nothing in the episode that shows Mabel is fully aware of what's happening outside. Remember, I said Mabel was knocked out when it all started. She said to Dipper: “But then I woke up in a place that gives me exactly what I wanted: an endless summer where we'll never have to grow up!” And it seems, as Dipper suspected, that Mabel was entranced and hypnotised by all the magic, almost completely caught up in the delusion. She’s not at all aware of what’s happening outside, and Dipper hasn’t so far told Mabel what’s going on.

Bill exploited Mabel's deep-seated insecurities and crafted the fantasy in such a way so that Mabel would remain trapped in her fantasy forever. Indeed, the prison is pretty diabolical and insane like Bill himself, and Bill even said it would take “a will of titanium” to break out. The depiction of Mabeland really expresses the depth of Mabel's almost pathological fear and denial, showing a very underlooked side of Mabel that really paints a terrifying picture of how broken deep down she was. It's easy to brush off the surface of the world as Mabel's selfish denial for growing up and wanting to keep things as they are, but it also can be looked at someone who is wanting to be seen and fit in, in a world that is continuing to no longer care for her way of life.

I admit Mabel's biggest personality deficiencies are her lack of will and self-awareness. When Mabel woke up in the bubble, she would have still been in the same mindset she had at the end of Dipper and Mabel vs. the Future – that her brother was leaving her forever. Mabel's mental state in that episode and leading up to it really paints that picture; a child who's losing grip and control of the reality she was so accustomed to, and without anyone there willing to take the time to stop and listen and help guide her, finally snapped.

Mabeland was her last attempt to maintain the reality she was so used to, to try and let go of the impending reality of truth. An unhealthy way of dealing with it, but the product of the mental state Mabel had fallen into. What Mabel wanted more than anything in the world at that moment was for her brother to be there and comfort her, just as he always has been up to this point. So, that's what Mabeland tried to give her – Dippy Fresh, the fandom’s most hated character. But he turned out to be a twisted fun-house-mirror reflection that's more like a male version of Mabel herself than it is like the real Dipper. I’m sure that Mabel knew this was not her real brother, but it's the closest she was going to get to him during that time of deep emotional vulnerability.

There's also two top Mabel-moments here. Actually three. I think this is actually one of the greatest episodes centering on Mabel. First, Mabel, in her good nature, actually offered to share the fantasy with Dipper and the rest when they first arrived, when she’s not yet aware of the darker side of her world. Second, when Dipper is about to be banished for mentioning the real world, Mabel doesn't want to throw him out right away and is willing to listen to what her brother has to say through the trial.

Dipper: Are you really gonna let them banish me?!

Mabel: No! Of course not; that’s my brother, guys! There’s gotta be another way.

So no, sending him to a trial is not for him to be kicked out into the apocalypse, but offers Dipper a chance to plead his case.

Sure, the court is rigged. But remember this whole thing is crafted by Bill, and Mabel holds an illusion she has control over their world. Mabeland tries to throw out Dipper’s case, but Dipper then shows her there's a better way to get through it than denial, and that's with help from people who care about her. While Mabel raised two past examples of them being bullied, Dipper also shows how the two stayed together thick and thin throughout their childhood. These memories showed that they both work together to better themselves, which, again, furthers the fact that they are co-dependent. “It's how we've gotten through our whole lives.”

The courtroom scene played out extremely well, incorporating a ton of symbolism in regards to the duo's respective individual thoughts. It's touching to see Dipper reminisce about the past with Mabel only to convince her that the future may not be as grim as she perceives it – a precedent laid out by most of the Mabel-centric episodes that forward this very scene. Dipper, her own brother, has always been the only person who could ground Mabel in reality and pull her out of Mabeland, for better or worse. Mabel, on the other hand, knows how to get her brother to take himself less seriously and chill out a little bit by acting intentionally dumb and goofy. The “yin and yang” Wendy mused to Dipper back in WMG1.

Seeing Dipper's love for his sister brings her back from the abyss is really heartwarming. Their sibling bond wins over, and Mabel accepts to return to reality out of her own will. If Mabel is that selfish as what some haters claim, she would have rejected leaving no matter what Dipper tells her. Mabel isn’t a rational thinker, and Dipper must be the one to lay out his case that convinces her. Dipper is the only one who can get through her and understand and address her insecurities. I find it unrealistic and out of character to expect Mabel to just snap out of it herself. I know Mabel is flawed. But the most important thing is, she still chose to go back to the real world with Dipper.

I like to think that what in the end made Mabel wanna face reality was not Dipper saying he'd go back home with her, but hearing him say he understood her fear; admitting he too was scared of growing up. Perhaps hearing her own brother admit that was what she needed to hear; that she was not alone in her fear and that Dipper understood it too.

I'm not sure if it's an intended parallel, but the bond between twins (later Stan and Ford) is what eventually leads to Bill's demise. Like how the cementation of the twins’ bond (sincere sibling hug) eventually ended the fantasy. (In fact, tbh I’m going crazy over this part – it’s a neat development from ‘awkward sibling hug’ from the first episode).

“Aw, man, I never noticed how bright this place is, ugh! Have I actually been listening to the same song for an entire week?”

It was when the spell breaks that Mabel fully snaps out of her trance and has further clarity of what’s going on. As the whole thing unravels as a nightmare, Mabel actually helps them out by summoning giant Waddles and they break out.

And after they emerge into the real world, it is Mabel's first proper look into what's actually happening, and horror sets in.

It’s also of note that as they emerge from the bubble, Mabel says to Dipper that she wouldn’t “get into her brother’s way” if he chooses to take Ford’s apprenticeship. Nevertheless, Dipper decides to stick with his sister when he recognises the cost if he were to take it up.

Actually, Dipper was already hesitant about the offer at the start in the UFO. After that, given the adrenaline of rescuing his Grunkle and overcoming another obstacle (facing without fear), to him it seemed like a rational decision that he can step up to be Ford's assistant, albeit shortsighted. He was riding the high of rescuing Ford and didn't think about how this would hurt Mabel, Grunkle Stan and his parents. And when Mabel ran away and he joined Ford, Dipper also had second thoughts about the decision and started to think with his heart.

I don’t think it’s realistic at all that Dipper should really take up the apprenticeship since he realises the serious implications if he takes it up. The turning point for Dipper's character arc is the realisation that he needs his sister in his life, too. The fact that he attained Ford's approval and consequently the right to be his apprentice himself is undeniable, though in terms of being a human being, that's where he needs her. I personally believe that Dipper would have fully changed his mind right then and there even if things were to go as planned.

Even at this point, I don't know why anyone expects Mabel to take responsibility for causing WMG there and then. I think her being imprisoned in her own bubble is already a sufficient consequence of what she has done. Plus, neither Dipper nor Ford has not blamed Mabel at all since he thought the rift might just accidentally broke. Neither witness what Mabel has done, or even aware what Mabel actually did. As far as they knew the rift must have broken accidentally “The rift must have cracked inside her backpack.”

At this point, it's not a time to play the blame game, as their main focus is to take down Bill. I would think perhaps beyond WMG, and when the Pines discussed what happened, would only Mabel be able to piece together what has actually happened. Mabel’s recognition of what she has done would only be clear after the series.

I decided to wrap this review off with my view on WMG3 and I say… This hits really quite hard. Even for an hour-long, it goes through a roller-coaster of emotions. Excitement, anticipation, dread, sadness and also nostalgia at the end.

Despite their best efforts, the Pines' lives were again on a thread, and Stan's sacrifice really packed a punch. I was also relooking to note the swap between Stan and Ford. What's also rather emotional is Stan and Ford discussing how their siblinghood had deteriorated, and how and why their grandnephews are still able to work together. From all of these riveting experiences of the summer, they've both grown tremendously, so much so as we, the audience, to have absolute certainty that they'll not turn out like the older duo. I note Mabel still plays her role in her story, rallying and encouraging the people to stand up to Bill, and also her grappling hook skills to help the groups navigate the Fearamid.

I still support the decision for Stan to recover enough to be able to send off the kids at the end of the summer. The goodbyes at the end are really deeply emotional. The finale really wraps up the show in a tiny neat bow, ending many of the characters' arcs in the most satisfying way. Of course, it’s not exactly the end, since the twins still have a lot of growing up to do, but the story ended on a very high and promising note.

This is my entire review of the entire WMG arc from Dipper and Mabel vs the Future to the finale. It’s something that I’ve put off for a long time even though I know the episodes are fantastic. And I’m glad actually that post calls me to review this rather underrated episode.

I conclude that much criticism of Escape from Reality is rather baseless, overblown and overexaggerated and stems from the person’s own biasedness toward Mabel. Thanks to them, Escape from Reality has now become one of my favourite episodes of the show (I’m sorry, but Tourist Trapped and Weirdmageddon 3 still take the top spots). I can understand some of the animosity especially if you think the episode doesn’t fit the general tone of the arc. But when the episode is viewed as a whole now I think it plays great – and really is the culmination of Dipper and Mabel's siblinghood. The priority is settling the twins’ problems before the real shit goes down in WMG3. Also all the callbacks, big and little, are great.

If you haven’t rewatched the entire WMG arc, I suggest doing it and judging for yourselves. I understand everyone has their own preferences and opinion when it comes to characters in media, but hate or harm towards a fictional character, or anyone else, is never acceptable. It is important to remember that fictional characters are not real people and should not be the subject of hate or harassment.

Drops microphone and leaves

#gravity falls #essay #personal essay #mabel pines #dipper pines #escape from reality #weirdmageddon #pines twins #gravity falls essay

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eldragon-x · 9 months

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Thinking about Ford's first reaction to Fiddleford telling him how dangerous the portal is being that he can't possibly destroy his life's work and how he still keeps it intact (even if shut down) during the paranoia era despite the danger of Bill turning it on again, but then taking it apart during the show. Thinking about how panicked Ford was when Stan attempted to burn Journal 1, part of his research, despite specifically giving it to him to hide it because of the danger of the portal plans, yet being willing to burn the Journals himself post-Weirdmageddon, feeling they're more of a burden than anything. Thinking about Ford still having all these artifacts to Bill's worship hidden away in his study even after all these years, but happily getting rid of and burning them post-Weirdmageddon.

How much do you think Ford really just wanted for things to be fine. How much he wanted to believe he could still hold onto the portal and his journals somehow without them being a danger? How badly he somehow still hoped that Bill was indeed a benevolent muse who wanted nothing but the best for him?

Do you ever wonder if Ford just wanted to go back before that awful night of the portal test? That he tried to hold onto whatever he could as his life was crumbling apart around him? Can you imagine how relieving it must've been to finally be able to let go and find other things to hold onto?

#IM SO UPSET!!!! FORD...#gf #ford tag

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allseeingportrait · 1 year

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So, a couple of years ago I made a design for a Human Bill design(because I've been a die hard Bill Enthusiast for ten years and the suit twinks annoy me).

This year, I was blasted as I was falling asleep with a vision of revision- a new, updated way to depict Bill humanoid that suited him better. Armed with this idea, I got to work, and here he is!

I like the partial silhouette form a lot better for him. I think it suits him- I also kept the parts of the last one I did that I thought worked!

In order, these outfits are: 1. Default 2. the Last Mabelcorn Flashback 3. Weirdmageddon

#drawing on the walls #bill cipher #honorary blog mascot #gravity falls #humanoid design #I'm really happy w how he turned out =]#also i cannot emphasize enough how much it was just Beamed Into My Brain #that idea just HAPPENED to me

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yahoo201027 · 2 years

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Day in Fandom History: October 26…

It’s Apocalypse Day in Gravity Falls after Bill destroyed the rift of the portal, thanks to Mabel from the last episode, and with no journal and no Ford on his side for help, it’s a race against the clock for Dipper to save the town, beat Bill, and save Mabel. “Weirdmageddon Part 1″ premiered on this day, 7 Years Ago.

#Day in Fandom History #7 Years Ago #Gravity Falls #Season 2 #Episode 18 #Weirdmageddon Part 1 #Cartoon #Animation

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fallen-gravity · 2 years

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Sock Opera!!! I have a lot of nostalgia for this episode because it was the episode that really got me involved with the tumblr side of the fandom full-time! I made a lot of lifelong friends as a result of this episode airing, and for that I’m eternally grateful.

Nostalgia aside, it’s just a really fun episode! Definitely the first of its kind to kick off the “demon character posses the main child character” trope in Western animation, and it was a fantastic way to introduce Bill’s subtle involvement in Season 2 up until the Not What He Seems to Weirdmageddon Part 1 arc. It fit wonderfully into the show’s overarching story without making the episode itself too plot-heavy or hard to follow.

Mabel puts together a goofy puppet show to impress a guy she likes, and Dipper himself becomes a puppet. It’s a super fun episode with a super fun song, and it’s incredibly well at showing off how well Bill is at manipulating someone. In one day he was able to trick Dipper into making a deal with him and he almost convinced Mabel to hand the journal over.

I’m just...aaaaa!!! I love Sock Opera so much, I’ve rewatched it so many times that I can practically recite the entire episode line by line.

@gf10yearslaterzine

#gravity falls #musings #gf10yearslater #10 days for 10 years

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ckret2 · 11 months

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Do you think bill would like dreamcore/weirdcore aesthetics/music? also I feel like the chaotic nature of the everywhere at the end of time soundtrack would suit him well. What do you think?

Commenting generally on dreamcore/weirdcore as a person who is aware of what they are and what their goals are but who doesn't personally regularly consume them and so is currently skimming a lot of pictures & playlists to compare to What I Think Bill's Tastes Are:

Look at a bunch of weirdcore and it's pictures of very mundane things in very mundane places, feels kind of like an old Polaroid, but framed (and sometimes added to in photoshop) in such a way to make it seem unsettling or eerie—to humans. Dreamcore is pretty similar except with less unsettling vibes, and more photoshopping of impossible things (ex: skies for floors), to evoke the sense of being in a dream. To humans, weirdcore is Very Strange And Threatening and dreamcore is Very Strange But Nonthreatening. To Bill? I think it would just hit him as "pictures of very mundane things." The things that make these aesthetics eerie and otherworldly to us are just part of his regular life. On a weirdness scale of 1 to 10, Bill considers Earth to be a 2, would probably consider weirdcore/dreamcore a 3, and he starts having fun at a 5.

He's a dream demon, he spends a lot of time inside humans' dreams, he probably sees forty liminal spaces with unseeable doorways that recede into the shadows each week.

To humans, places like that are barely-remembered phantom realms we only experience while vividly hallucinating in the dark at night, and in the waking world we use dreamcore to recapture that sense of unreality and weirdcore to sprinkle on a little dread. But to Bill, that's like, where he does his business transactions with humans. That's his workplace. That's like going to the office. Dreamcore is like human tourists visiting him at work and then going home and trying to make badly-remembered fanart of his office.

I feel like we get a pretty good glimpse of his preferred aesthetics during Weirdmageddon, with the Fearamid, the penthouse, and that ridiculous car—not to mention the mess he made of the town. As far as his aesthetic/artistic preferences go, the vibe I get off him is like... 20% Lisa Frank meets Clive Barker, 30% Hollywood Regency, and 50% the way a teenage boy in the 1990s would decorate his room if he was given a million dollars and no rules. The majority of dreamcore/weirdcore is too subdued, understate, desolate, and beige/pastel to reach his standards.

I can understand the instinct to tack that on him, though. I think weirdcore would love Bill. C'mon, try it out.

It works! It works.

I just don't think Bill would love weirdcore back.

Same goes for the music; to be incredibly reductive of a very loose umbrella term, most dreamcore music sounds like soothing relaxing 60s/70s music, played slow, with some static and an echo effect, and occasionally throw in some vaporwave or retrowave for variety. Weirdcore, pretty similar from what I can tell, but with more electronica and less of the 60s/70s music. Some of the most experimental least-conventionally-musical music might start to edge into "yeah this hits the same as listening to Shepard tones for five hours straight" but I think most of it only sounds like "weird music" to humans, and to Bill would sound like "human music." Nothing we've seen about his musical tastes so far suggest to me that his preferences are "dreamy" rather than, say, "party."

About Everywhere at the End of Time specifically: this thing is six and a half hours long, and I'm not gonna sit and dedicate my full attention to six and a half hours of concept-driven experimental music to figure out whether I think Bill would be into it, so unfortunately I'm only able to give a half-ass answer to this question with a subpar understanding of the thing I'm being asked to comment on.

Based on what Wikipedia tells me the albums are about, I think he'd respect the artistic ambition because he strikes me as the kind of guy who likes to think he's sophisticated as heck and able to Appreciate things that are Deep; and then he'd probably try to comment on how accurate it is—because like, hey, dream demon, he's probably been in and out of the heads of people with Alzheimer's. "He'd respect the artistic ambition" isn't necessarily the same as "he'd like it." I fully think he'd sing the praises of something he hates and/or that bores him to death if he thinks sophisticated people like it. (Alternatively, if he hates something he thinks people think is deep, he might go "it's pretentious and overhyped and if you were HALF as sophisticated as I am you'd be able to see that too." There's no room in his world for admitting "I think it's sophisticated but I don't personally like it.)

Listening to little fifteen-second chunks of the soundtrack on youtube while randomly skipping over several minutes at a time, I think that he'd think the first few stages just sound like normal human music (even as, from our perspective, they get even more staticky & distorted), and wouldn't fully appreciate the way the sound/memory progressively declines in those sections just because he's a little too alien to fully grasp the "wrongness" of it. From stage 4 on it starts to sound like the kind of "noise" I think Bill might register as "good music", a la Shepard tones or tornado sirens; but I'm not about to dedicate enough specific listening to pick out any sections that REALLY strike me as "yeah this is what I think Bill thinks music is," so that's just a preliminary answer. the Caretaker's attempts to represent the melancholy, depression, and confusion of having your mind and memories shut down on you might accidentally sound like a bop to Bill's alien tastes.

#idedinsed #ask #(this answer is long because if somebody goes 'do you think X?' and my answer is 'no' i feel like an asshole if i don't give my reasons why #(... also because all my answers are long let's be real)#about my writing #bill goldilocks cipher

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